Path of War: Graves, The Outlaw
by Kobell
Summary: Follow the steps of a man who has been a thief, a swindler, a friend and an enemy. This is the life of Graves, The Outlaw, and how he came to be a champion in the Institute of War.
1. GRAVES I: The Apple and the Thief

**Hello everyone. In this series my hope is to present to you the biography of most characters in the League. I hope to end up having a ton of stories at the end, so let's start with this with the right foot!**

**One more thing; what do you think is better, to make a story for every champion or put them all into one massive book? Give me suggestions, please!**

**Now, let me introduce you to: Malcom Graves, The Outlaw!**

* * *

**1: THE APPLE AND THE THIEF**

He ran swiftly through the stands in Bilgewater's crowded main marketplace, his feet as fast as a machine, his eyes as audacious as an eagle's. From time to time he was forced to push strangers out of his way when they blocked his path, or jump over fallen barrels or whatever pets some people would be taking a walk with. He constantly heard the complaints coming from behind him. _Go play somewhere else, kid_, they yelled; _this is no place to be running around_. He did not listen; the comments of wealthy people were always the same. "Rich people are never right", Ma' had said once, and she had always been correct.

It seemed to be a bustling day a couple of streets up from Bilgewater's harbor. Most of the citizens were out in the streets, preparing for the Whaler Festival, a celebration that occurred every year in the Blue Flame Island. The tall rooftops were already covered in red and blue banners, shaping the city in colors as if it was a giant circus. The decorations running along the walls included everything from short written stories to enormous paintings of ships and whales.

After sprinting for a few minutes, the kid finally found what he had been looking for. He stopped abruptly once he saw the small fruit stand of the fat old man.

He stood still from a distance, watching the elder as he told strangers about the prices of his products. He hadn't had good luck until a minute later, when a rich lady approached his stand and started talking with him. The kid took advantage of the situation and ran towards his stall. Before any of them could even react, he grabbed as much apples as his hands could hold, accidentally dropping a couple of them, and began to run away as fast as possible.

"Hey!" said the rich lady as he fiercely pushed her out of his way. At the same time, he zapped his hand into her purse, tugging a gold watch that was hanging down and stole it. Neither of them seemed to notice.

"Stop that kid!" shouted the old man, with his trembling voice. "Thief! Come back here!"

He ran as quickly as he could, merging with the hundreds of people crossing in the road. After a few dozen meters he felt safe and stopped running, but suddenly he felt a hand grabbing him from his back and pulling him over. The kid felt how a man he did not know pressed his neck with his hands and took his breath out almost instantly.

"I've got him." He shouted as the fat old guy from the stand approached.

"Thank you. That little bastard has been stealing from me since I put my stall." The fat man said with a strong isle accent and tried to catch his breath.

"What is your name, kid?" Said the unknown man.

The kid did not answer, he did not feel like it. After a while, the old man slapped him hardly. The kid turned his head and felt the pain starting to grow on his cheek. The woman approached as well and looked at him like he was some kind of animal.

"He asked what is your name, bugger"

"Graves, sir." He felt his voice cracking when he turned his head down. "Malcom Graves"

"Give me my apples back, you little robber." The elder slapped him again in the other side and his both of his cheeks started to burn even more. That would leave a mark on him the next day.

Hesitantly, he returned the apples. Without anyone noticing he had slipped one of them into his pocket, but it was only one. He would have to come back to the market at the end of next week.

"You will get yourself in serious issues the next time you try to steal from me, kid." He said, and Graves turned his eyes. The old man said that every time, and it never happened. After all, what could they possibly do? Jail him? Ha.

"Get away from here, now. You better don't come back." Said the other guy and released him. Graves rearranged his neck showing a face of disgust, then turned around and started running away.

A few seconds later, he could hear the scream of rich lady, saying that her watch had been stolen. When he remembered the apple was not the only thing he had stolen, he smiled. He had a new shiny clock now.

Malcom Graves returned to his home, the last floor of an abandoned house of which he entered by a broken part of the roof. It was cozy and spacious enough to hold all his things, and he liked it. He would hate the day when someone found his secret place.

He lay down on the ground and took the apple out of his pocket, admiring it and taking a big, strong bite. It was delicious; being poor made him appreciate all the little things like those ones. While eating, he grabbed the new award he'd gotten and looked at it, a small pocket watch with golden edges and a golden chain. He liked it, and he fought with himself with the thought of whether or not to keep it.

It would make a nice amount of money if he sold it, but perhaps it was better to keep it as a little souvenir.

He took a deep breath and relaxed. With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes. Quickly, he got immersed into the world of dreams.

* * *

Graves was sixteen years old, and until now he had been living a difficult life.

He assumed his parents had left him or died when he was just a baby, either way he had no memory of them. According to his Ma' (an old woman that had taken care of him when he was a little boy), they had only left him with half a bottle of milk and a ragged robe. Ma' had fed him, and even when she got sick she still took care of him, until the end of her life, when a disease killed her in bed, Graves being only eight years old. She had given him his name way because of her brother, Malcom, and the location where the baby had been found, the doorsteps of a small cabin next to a graveyard. She knew it was a dim name, but he actually liked it, and thankfully it had given him a certain sort of authority among the other poor kids.

After Ma's death, Graves had found himself scared and unable to do anything, so he fled from his house and started his problematic life as a thief and living in the streets day-by-day with other boys and stealing rich people on the streets.

When he became old enough, he was finally able to enter pubs and taverns down the Fleet Street. There, he slowly started to get known by others, and started betting. It was in these small inns where he impressed rich people with the simplest card tricks and earned money.

But he had to be careful. Word was spreading around fast and if he was discovered cheating he would be in serious trouble. It wasn't as if he couldn't be jailed anymore.

But although having finally reached his goal (having a good source of money), he was tired of his life. He wanted to do new things, explore new places and meet new people, people that he could trust. But it would not be that easy. He had to earn a little more money first. Then he could flee from the city. Get known in another place, somewhere in Valoran. Live a different life.

* * *

Years later, Malcom Graves had still that same thought in mind, but this time it was not only a wish. It was a reality. Finally, he was ready to leave the town he grew in and hated.

It was a cloudy day in Bilgewater when he decided it was time to depart. After a small walk through the streets of the city, Graves came out at the immense port. He took a look around, enjoying the view as he always did.

Bilgewater's Harbor was composed of two main things: tall towers and massive mountain formations behind, that showed the sheer size of the city, tall and vigilant. Half of the city was built over the water so, because of deterioration, seeing curved buildings was quite normal. In between the docks, dozens of boats of any size and shape were moored to the wooden pathways, and standing in them were hundreds of pirates and sailors.

Blue Flame Island was a pirate nation. Pirate was not an official name, but everyone called it that way. Most of the town's richness came from robbers and whale hunters in the sea. Although Graves had never been interested on being a pirate he found the job to be quite profitable, but he knew most pirates took the job for the simple fact of being in the sea and drinking rum every night.

A pretty lady gave him a good morning when he approached a stall to buy a boarding pass. Even though the thought of stealing the pass or entering a boat without it crossed his mind, he resisted and paid the enormous amount she was charging. For once, he wanted to feel clean and act like a real civilian. After all, he finally had the money to afford the life that he'd always wanted.

"Where are you wishing to go?"

Graves had thought of that particular question again and again, and even still, he was not completely sure of his decision.

"Noxus" he smiled and the woman smiled back. It was a risky choice, but if he did not succeed in the City of Darkness, he could always run somewhere else.

She gave him a piece of paper and indicated where his ship was. Graves followed her instructions and entered the enormous sailing boat, currently empty. After he went down the stairs he found his cozy little room. He lay down his bed, and waited for the boat to undock.

And there he was, with his arms beneath his head and an enormous smile on his face; expecting a life full of experiences and fame, looking forward to a fruitful future in other cities.

As Ma' used to say, "It is all in hands of destiny."

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**Thanks for reading, remember to review!**

**Next Chapter:**

**-A TWIST OF FATE-**


	2. GRAVES II: A Twist of Fate

**2: A TWIST OF FATE**

Graves travelled all around Valoran most of his life. He decided Noxus had been a bad decision (money was not one of the top interests of Noxian people), so he abandoned it and travelled north, where he found Zaun, a city that made his earnings go a little higher. After that, he went to main cities like Piltover and Ionia, as well as dozens of small towns and villages, eventually reaching the goal he had put to himself; making his name known all around the continent.

It was in a crowded pub in Demacia called _The Golden Goblet_ where Graves first met a man called by the name Twisted Fate. He was playing an easy game with a small group of wealthy gentlemen (so easy, in fact, that he had not even seen the need to cheat), when a tall slim man with a curved hat and his group of friends entered the room. Immediately as the unknown man entered, he turned his head to see Graves directly, and both shared eye contact for a few seconds. The man with the hat stayed only for a few minutes, ordered something to drink and took off.

Only a couple of months later Graves started hearing about stories about a young man from a gipsy family making shows here and there, demonstrating card tricks and impressing large amounts of people around the city. He was often called "The Tarot Mage", "The Card Master", even "The Oracle", but mostly he was known by the name of Twisted Fate, and he got popular very rapidly. Graves was not a single bit jealous of him, although he really wanted to meet him one day, perhaps even take him on a challenge. Later he discovered he was not the only one who wanted to see both of them fight, but in well over half the pubs he entered he found other people talking about it. It was something everybody expected; Graves versus Twisted Fate.

It wasn't easy to find Twisted Fate; he seemed to go to the classiest pubs, the ones where the richest people went, and he was rarely found in a downtown tavern.

In any way, Graves finally ended up encountering him, and they eventually started a small war over who won the most matches. They would mostly play until everyone else in the table was out of the game, and fought each other. Usually they were pretty even. When Twisted Fate won a match, Graves won the next one and so on. There was never a decisive match that put one over the other.

Graves considered Twisted Fate as a rival for many months. He considered the foe to be greedy and conceited, never looking for an even challenge and always trying to be on top. The many card matches that they fought became a betting machine in the whole city, and as so, a huge income for both of them. It was in this period of their lives when they became famous enough to be considered "rich", and both of them knew it had become a war over who knew the most tricks.

But one day that war was finally over. It was in an uptown inn called _The Lucky Star_ where they fought their last battle. It had been previously agreed; the one who lost the fight would be out of the city in the next morning, out for good. It seemed reasonable at the beginning, but Graves started wandering, what if Twisted Fate won? He did not feel like starting a new life in another city. Demacia was just perfect for him, and it was in that place where he had truly become rich and famous. He accepted the deal anyways, not with pleasure but with fear. Although he had to accept he was getting tired of the same thing every day —card tricks, robberies and frauds—, he knew he was getting into a risky situation.

And there he was, face to face against The Card Master, his very own nemesis. Graves was not at all prepared as he thought he was. He was thinking it would be just another average match with him, and at first it was, but the game extended a little bit over three hours.

The crowd around them started to get bigger and bigger, and even bets were put on every side of the table. They fought evenly match after match and no one really took a big advantage over the other. The objective was to draw the most valuable cards you could in a single bunch, and you had to obtain points. Graves thought he had been doing better, but people around them weren't thinking the same; Twisted had won the same amount of times.

Finally, both of them decided it was time to put an end to the match.

"We're closing up, folks! You better get this game over with or continue another day." said the owner. He was right; the sun was about to come out and both of the trick masters were exhausted, no obvious winner yet. The crowd around them had gotten smaller, but there were still plenty of people watching.

"Let's end this once and for all." Graves said, and Twisted Fate only smiled.

"It seems like you are giving up" The Card Master answered with a slight grin.

"I'm not; I just want you out of here as soon as possible."

"Let's do this, then. Finish me off, cowboy."

That's what he called him, and Graves secretly hated it. He could not let other know about it, though.

The last fight lasted at least half an hour more. They kept extending it and extending it, until the time for the last draw came.

Graves took the sweat out of his forehead and took the first card, Twisted did the same. He flipped it to himself and saw, with a barely noticeable smile, an ace of spades. "Yes!" He thought to himself. He was off with a good beginning.

He grabbed the second card and saw another ace. Once again, he congratulated himself. Then he took out the third and fourth cards, and when he flipped them he could barely contain the emotion. Four aces. "Hell yes!" he screamed to his insides. Although he could not show it publicly, he let out a smile he could not hold. The four aces that he was holding in his hand were the ticket to send Twisted Fate away from Demacia, forever. He had considered himself lucky his whole life, but this…

"Let's see those cards, shall we?" Fate said, and Graves only let himself nod.

When Twisted Fate put his cards on the table, and showed a full ace-line of cards (four aces in a row, just like Graves had) everyone's jaw, including Mister Fate's, dropped to the ground.

Four aces.

Both of them.

Before anyone could explode in commotion and clutter, The Card Master blasted out in every sense of his person.

"HOW?" He shouted, and stood up, impressed and angry at the same time. The chair behind him almost fell on the ground.

Graves was also impressed, but he was not as upset as his enemy was. Instead, he just started laughing. Twisted Fate's expression changed a few seconds later, and he burst of laughter as well, loudly and hilariously. Soon, both of them were laughing out of their breath like they had been brothers since a long time ago.

The public that had accumulated around them looked at both of them as if they were a pair of idiots, and started looking at each other, confused if the most famous rivals in the city had entirely lost their mind.

But only Graves and Twisted Fate knew the reason of their laughter, and only they could explain the cause of this hilarious and confusing situation. Only both of them knew what nobody else on every pub and tavern did, and in the end it all seemed absurdly obvious:

_Neither of them could be beaten._

And the sun rose, shining on the faces of those people that were still confused, more than they had ever been on their lives, and on those ones who found the situation ridiculously evident.

They could only express one word to define their lives; one of them called it fate, the other called it destiny.

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**Thanks for reading, remember to review!**

**Next Chapter:**

**THE DOCTOR AND THE BET**


	3. GRAVES III: The Doctor and the Bet

**3: THE DOCTOR AND THE BET**

The owner of the pub where they had fought their famous battle later changed the name of the place to "The Lucky Draw", and thanks to them it became popular all over the city. They could see that once it opened it filled almost instantly, every day, and it became the place where Graves and Twisted Fate frequented the most, although this time not as enemies, but as friends.

And even though they had lost their popularity quite a bit, they didn't care. They won more money as allies, and they played against rich people every weekend for amounts of money larger than they could have imagined. Soon, instead of being famous they started to become infamous; the city would not hate them, but most people would stay as far away from both of them as possible.

Famous and rich people usually didn't care losing money; as long as they tried to defeat the pair they were satisfied. All the other people (that didn't win thousands of gold), though, preferred to maintain a distance from them. Soon, rumors about them using black magic could be heard all over the place, and it was not entirely a lie. Twisted Fate, more than Graves, was starting to become obsessed with the use of Noxian magic, and was continuously seen experimenting with tricks and casting spells just to show off. Graves did not entirely agree with his decisions, and he continuously warned him, but Twisted would not listen, just the way he had all his life.

In any case, they were winning enough money to maintain themselves in a high street house with food and enough alcohol to get them drunk every night. They were both happy and stable; however, they still stole valuable things occasionally, just for the fun of it. Many times they were almost caught, but their identity could never be revealed.

They found themselves running once, escaping from a group of officers. Both of their faces were protected by a simple spell his friend Twisted Fate had learned, so nobody could see their real appearance. They had stolen a couple of valuable gems, blue as the sky, from a convenience store in one of the richest streets in town. The man that had been stolen had called a group of guards, who had pursued them through the many narrow roads of Demacia.

At one point, one of the officers managed to grab Twisted Fate's arm, pulling him hardly. Graves continued running, but turned around only to see a pair of guards hand-cuffing his friend to the wall.

"Hey! Leave the man alone!" He shouted, trying to distract them, but he had no result.

"Don't worry, brother. I've got this." Twisted Fate said, and Graves saw him taking a tarot card off his sleeve.

"Man, you don't have to do this." Graves warned him. He could not show his cards to anyone; that way they would know it was him. Before he could do anything, the Tarot Master threw his cards at the guards, cutting and stunning them for a couple of seconds. He simply threw the handcuffs to the ground and fled away with Graves.

* * *

"We were fast" said Twisted Fate later that night, once they entered a small pub downtown.

Graves only nodded. He didn't felt like replying, not after Twisted Fate had almost been caught.

"They were pretty close, Twisted. We can't take those kinds of risks anymore."

"Chill down, man. We did alright."

"Yeah, but we might not have. Who knows what will happen next time?"

"Shut up, oldie" That was the way he called him when he was acting way too worriedly.

Graves stood quiet. Times like this he just wanted to punch his friend in the face, and he feared he might end up doing it once.

The bar attendant approached them, a long-haired pretty girl, clear eyes and a prominent cleavage. She showed a kind smile when she realized who both of them were.

"Hey, boys! What are you doing over here? Aren't you supposed to be betting cards or somethin'?" Graves could hear a notable Ionian accent, almost musical.

"Not today, Alena. We've had a busy day, haven't we, Graves?"

Graves nodded, silently. The girl asked them what they wanted to drink and both of them chose a Peach Shandy. She turned around, made a couple of combinations and served them their orange-colored glass. Graves grabbed it and took a big gulp, while his friend just started talking to Alena.

"So, what have you been hearing about us, girl?"

"Well, same thing here and there. You guys' are pretty popular 'round the place, you know?"

"Yes, but have you heard something special, out of the ordinary, if you get me?" He asked, his eyebrows rising.

"I guess I've heard a few things over the top, things you should not care about, as usual." She shrugged, like it lacked importance. Twisted Fate got a couple of gold coins out of his pocket, and suddenly it all seemed interesting to her. After she grabbed them, she got close to them and lowered her voice.

"I hear people talkin' 'bout dark powers and some scary crap involving you two. It even goes so far as assassination." Her accent was lessened when she whispered. "Couple of Tarot cards appearing around, ya?"

"That's all we need to hear, Alena." Graves interrupted. "Thank you, though."

"No problem, sir. I'll be around if you need anything else." she said and backed off, as Graves turned over to Fate. "See?"

Twisted took a sip of his drink and remained silent. Yes; they were slowly being discovered.

"So either we run away from this city or lower our appearances down." With that, the argument was sealed. "What are you doing tomorrow, bud?"

"I'm meeting up with a girl; a friend of mine is going to introduce her to me." He replied, as he played around with his glass. "Why do you ask?"

"I need some help. I have a game tomorrow, against one Zaunian businessman folk. I thought you would be able to help me out."

"What's his name?"

"Priggs, Doctor Priggs, something along the line."

"Nah, haven't heard of him. Sorry pal, I've wanted to meet this chick for a long time now. Plus since when do you need help in a card game?"

"Since when are you meeting chicks?" Both of them laughed. "What's her name?"

"Evelynn. My friend described her as "mysterious". Let's see how it goes out."

"Good luck, my friend." Graves said and swallowed all the remaining liquid on his glass. Fate did the same, and that was the end of the night.

* * *

Graves could barely hold his laughter after seeing Doctor Aregor Priggs lose over, and over, and over again. He had quite a temperament, and when he lost the final battle the man almost lost his mind. That, combined with him being overweight, having a comical face and having dumb companions next to him made the situation even more hilarious.

It had been an easy game, mainly because the doctor was not very experienced and his friends messed up most of his good plays; Graves had not even felt the necessity to use cheating tactics.

But it had been the doctor the one that had been looking for the fight; it had been his fault he had lost miserably, and at the end, almost an easy thousand gold was put into Graves' pocket, who had a smile on his face the entire game.

"Good fight, doctor" He said, lighting up a cigarette on his mouth, a face of satisfaction shown on his face.

"Good fight? Do you consider that a good fight?" He said, while counting the few bills he had left on his wallet after paying him. "That was a cheap fight, nothing more. I didn't come all the way from Zaun to see you swindle me."

"I would not call it swindle, doctor, and I can assure you I have never used the tactics of a thief. I just won, and you don't have to worry; you are not the only person I have defeated. You are on a list with many others now." He could see the doctor's face getting red as an apple. His expression showed that he had gotten offended, and Graves took advantage of the situation, just to drop the final bomb. "Anyways, I wanted to congratulate you."

"Why" he asked, confused.

"I have never played against a talking pig before. To be honest you did it really good... for a pig."

Priggs stood up and his chair fell on the ground with a loud noise, the table was pushed by his fat stomach. He raised both of his fists, his fingers closed hardly against the palm. His friends stood up as well and pushed him back, preventing him of starting trouble.

"Easy, partner" Graves said, watching as the pathetic creature looked at him mad as a bull, his eyes focused and his cheeks burning. He grinned.

"You will pay for this." He said, breathing violently. "I will make sure you stop with this madness. I will make you suffer from all the people you have cheated on and swindled." His eyes looked frenetic, like they were about to pop out. "You will regret this."

Graves did not open his mouth. As he finished up his cigarette and pressed the stub against the ashtray walls, he watched Doctor Aregor Priggs leave the pub, his friends behind him. He later discovered the whole pub had been looking at both of them.

"End of the line" he said at loud.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, remember to review!**

**Next Chapter:**

**BETRAYAL**


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